56 ON AND OFF THE. A VE.NUE THIS AND THA T P ROTECTIVE coloration was an idea first taken up by Nature as a means of preservIng certaIn fauna. Later on, RobIn Hood got hold of the notion, and you could hardly tell him from the forest as he and hIs bdnd of-well, green hands roamed it. Robert Leader gets into the act be- cause he has a couple of shops-one at 146 East 54th Street and another at 782 LexIngton Avenue (61st)-in which protective coloration for the female of the species has been brought to a point at which it begins to take on implications of a cheerful sort of ag- gression; as you walk past his show windows, your eye is impaled by hues that stare out at you with the speculative eyes of famished lions. 0 h, yes, several of the straight and simple dresses (no col- lars, no sleeves) are of satin-striped cot- ton in nothing more rumbustious than black and whIte, but then you get laven- der and green in the next one you come to, and this is stop, look, and (practical- ly) listen in its effect. And so thIngs go. Some of the shifts with high, round necks and pushup sleeves are, it is true, of safe- and-sane black silk seersucker, hut oth- ers are of olive, lilac, or Shocking-pink seersucker, and short-sleeved dresses with high, round throats, natural waIsts, and (in the skirts) flat box pleats appear in pistachio-green cotton with emerald pin dots and vast pale-green daisies. Milder, though, is the linen or silk linen of some world- ly two-piece dresses whose overo ouses are slit from hip to waist on one side. The choice is yellow, emerald, ShockIng pink, turquoise, and black. Dressier exam- ples of the genre, in a va- riety of shan tung prints, ha ve overblouses that end In deep, pleated ruffles. Trapeze dresses of linen, with low, square necks and no sleeves or else with high, collarless necks and elbow sleeves, have welt seamIng that forms a sort of um- brella ribbing all the way around, top to bottom; vo- lumInous black evening chiffons billow out into sixteen-inch flounces at the hem The chiffons can have baby-ribbon sashes, but Mr. L. likes them unbelted. None of these Items are exorbItant; $45 to $95 is the plan. E LAINE STARKMAN, who operates at 149 Bleecker Street, near West Broadway, has well-behaved suits that are both town and country. Natural or black cotton shantung takes care of the cardigan jackets that fasten with white pearl buttons; these are lined with white batiste on which pastel poppies are printed. Or there are jackets with the blossoms (olive, sage, and a vocado- colored zinnias) on the outside; in this case, white duck and no fastenings. The slender skirts are oJ sage duck, and $29.50 and $35 are the respective prices for the suits. H ANLAN, down at 51 Greenwich A ven ue, seems to have set up in a low-rent area, for nothing that ensues in this paragraph is as much as $20. And you'll know you're in the Village when you look: décolleté coveralls of Dacron-and-cotton In French blue beige, or white as well as in sailcloth with several lively print patterns; bell- bottom trousers that can be fastened tIght at the ankles, of white, shrimp, gold, lemon, or blue duck; hot-weather dresses of Dacron batiste in floral prints; drawstring-at-the-waist dresses of Pima cotton surah on which small or splashy but muted Paisley or mosaic designs are pnnted; beach sacks of crewelwork (not for wet things) on which brilliant flowers and birds appear. Warning: The place celebrates Wednesdays by staying sh u t. T OMAs, at 609 Madison Avenue ( 58th), does separates of a J ac- quard cotton that brings to mind Vic- torian bedspreads; solid orange, em- erald, hot pInk, gold, cobalt blue, and black is the range. Among them are flared thigh-length jackets with stand- away necks, three-quarter sleeves, and deep slits at the sides, not to mention tapered slacks, Jamaica shorts, and sleeveless short pullovers with white drawstrings at the throat that contInue into shoulder straps. The top price is $9.95. P HOENIX-P AN AMERICAN IMPORTS, at 793 Lexington A venue (61 st), is loaded with Mexican trappings. The most arresting are one-of-a-kInd street- length ponchos that could be pulled over bathing suits. Some are of natural cotton outlined with blue-and-red striped em- broidery, and the multicolored braided yarn at the base of the V necks makes long, droopy fringe. And if you must (the excuse could be a country party), you can add a tribal wig of black yarn; the United States, clearly, didn't invent - <